After unsuccessfully tugging at me to get up, Monkey1 pattered downstairs to the main level. I knew I should get up and follow. I tried to think about what she might get into, food or otherwise, but just could not think of anything worth rousting myself out of bed. She could get into the fridge, where there was yogurt (a favorite); there were apples on the counter (another favorite); there weren't too many marshmallows left in the cabinet if she climbed the drawers like stairs (already happened once). Later of course I discovered my error. She had climbed the drawers like stairs, stood on the counter, and emptied the decorative sugar jars directly into her mouth, with a good deal of spilling on the floor, hand wiping on the dish towels, and feet wiping on the backdoor/kitchen mat. Mostly the sugar was green, so her face was rather smudged.
Dad made her vacuum the kitchen and counters. I vacuumed her feet.
After breakfast -- scrambled eggs with four chopped up slices of pepperoni mixed in and covered with melted cheese, and bagels -- I decided to introduce "Stoplight Eating." A mother and fitness instructor presented this method of healthy eating after exercise class a few weeks ago, and I just had not gotten around to telling my monkeys. Here it is: a traffic light is green, yellow, and red, and foods can be divided up as Go/Grow foods, Slow foods, and Stop foods. Healthy kid food choices like fruits, veggies, dairy products in their not-too-processed form, whole wheat cereals/breads, are Green Light foods. Yellow Light foods are okay foods, in moderation. Red Light foods are unhealthy don't-eat choices. Every family can work on what exactly falls in each category.
As I talked about traffic lights, I cut out three circles, green, yellow, and red. Monkey1 sang us a song learned in Preschool:
Red on top and Green below,
Red says STOP!
Green says GO!
Yellow says WAIT -
Even if you're late.
Red on top and Green below,
Red says STOP!
Green says GO!
So then I talked about different kinds of foods being Green, Go, Grow & Give you lots of energy foods, and Yellow, go slow foods, and Red, don't eat. I glued the three colored circles on a large piece of cardboard, like a traffic light, and then got out the grocery store fliers and cut out pictures of foodstuffs, which we then stuck next to the appropriate color on the traffic light poster. I concentrated on lots of examples of Green Light foods that we have often have in the house, many of which Monkey1 already likes. I put a few favorites like ice cream in the Yellow Light category, explaining that these are Slow/Sometimes foods; you have to eat Green Light food first. Since we've had a rule that ice cream for dessert only comes after and if one finishes supper (presumably Green Light foods), this already made sense to my Monkeys. We didn't put any pictures next to the Red Light, but I made sure Monkey1 knew that plain sugar for breakfast was definitely Red Light, Stop! and there were lots of better choices available.
I kept the lingo up as I packed snacks and lunches of our day at the zoo, and Monkey1 was interested helping identify and classify our food. Monkey2 just wanted to eat it. We talked about it at the zoo too, especially when we got our zookies for on the way home. ("Cookies are a Yellow Light food. Did we just have any Green Light foods?" "Yes - apples and oranges!") And again at supper.
May it continue.
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